Reports surfaced on Turkish media outlets and the Middle East Eye website turned the spotlight to the alleged support to terrorist group PKK by Türkiye’s neighbor Iran.

Middle East Eye reported on Monday that Tehran was suspected of supplying loitering surface-to-air missiles to the PKK, which used them to shoot at Turkish armed drones hunting down the terrorists in Iraq. The Yeni Şafak newspaper, meanwhile, claimed that Iran supplied 50 "kamikaze drones" to the terrorist group and delivered them via Sulaymaniyah airport in the eponymous Iraqi region where the group holds clout.

Reports come about one month after Türkiye’s Minister of National Defense expressed concern about Iran turning a blind eye to the PKK’s activities. Yaşar Güler said in a televised interview that "Iranian" and "American" friends of his country were giving free room to the group that is most active in Türkiye’s southern neighbors. "We give the location of (PKK terrorists) to our Iranian friends, but they reply that they checked them and could not find them. This is not a good approach to this matter. This disturbs us," Güler said in a televised interview on Thursday. He was referring to PKK terrorists fleeing into Iran through the Turkish border and underlined that they provided concrete data to Iran through surveillance of terrorists by unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV). Güler also expressed criticism of the United States without openly naming the country. "Some friends claim (that YPG) is a force separate from the PKK. They claim they give (military equipment) to the YPG, not PKK," he told broadcaster CNN Türk. "But they were caught red-handed. Two helicopters piloted by YPG members trained by (U.S. forces) collided and this revealed their involvement. They paused the pilot training (for YPG), but they are still involved in support (for YPG)," he said.

Middle East Eye reported that footage purportedly showing PKK members downing a Turkish Aksungur drone was among the evidence of Iranian-made technology available to the PKK. The video released on May 27 was analyzed by defense experts speaking to the website and they said it was highly likely the drone was downed by the Iranian 358 loitering surface-to-air missile, also known as a kamikaze drone. Quoting sources, Middle East Eye reported that the PKK assembled parts of the missile in southern Sulaymaniyah. Experts speaking to the website suggested that the U.S. may have also supplied technology to detect Turkish drones to the PKK. Yeni Şafak, meanwhile, reported that among the munitions supplied to the terrorist group by Iran was aerial observation technology of Russian origin, and the shipment was facilitated by the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), an influential party based in Sulaymaniyah. Ankara in March warned PUK and called it to "correct its mistake" and distance itself from the PKK.

PUK stands accused of giving more freedom of movement both in the city and rural parts of Sulaymaniyah to the PKK.

The PKK seeks to legitimize its presence through political parties and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in Iraq. In rural Sulaymaniyah, it intimidates the local population by setting up "checkpoints" and through extortion and kidnapping. PUK issues IDs exclusive to its counterterrorism units to PKK members, helping them to move easily around the city and beyond. PUK's assistance to the PKK also helps the latter to build a strategic "bridge" with the YPG, the terrorist group's Syria wing. PUK is also behind military training for YPG members who cross into Iraq from northern Syria. The scope of PUK and PKK cooperation further became evident with a 2023 helicopter crash. Nine people killed in the collision in Iraq's Duhok were found to be PKK members. Moreover, PUK leader Bafel Talabani sent his counterterrorism chief to the funerals of terrorists in Syria's north a week after the crash.